Many types of board games exist. They are generally entertaining and occasionally serve to teach the players. A number of fishing board games exist. These games are typically entertaining. However, they do little to teach a novice fishermen the skills necessary to become an expert veteran fisherman.
The prior art discloses numerous fishing board games. These include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,921,981, 5,176,385, 5,186,466, Des. 292,105, 5,513,848 and 6,257,576.
There is a need for an improved fishing board game which is entertaining and educational for the players. The game should teach the players how to identify various types of fish; the types of food which the various types of fish feed upon; how the various types of fish are rated by desirability by veteran fishermen; and where environmentally the various types of fish may be found.
The present invention is directed to a fishing board game which satisfies these needs.
The fishing board game is comprised of a gameboard, a plurality of fish cards, a plurality of colored color cards, a plurality of bait boards and a plurality of playing cards.
The gameboard has a starting area. This is where the players place game pieces assigned to each of them prior to the start of the game. A circuitous grid of interconnected fishing points begins and ends at the starting area. The grid is comprised of intersecting lines. Each line intersection is a fishing point. A portion of the fishing points are designated by color as fishing holes. To designate a fishing hole, a circle is placed around the intersecting lines and filled with a color. During the playing of the game fish are located within the fishing holes.
Preferably, the gameboard is also comprised of a plurality of color card slots, a fish card slot, a playing card draw slot, a playing card discard slot and a dice bubble. The color card slot holds color cards. The fish card slot holds fish cards. The playing card draw slot holds unplayed playing cards. The playing card discard slot holds discarded playing cards. The dice bubble encloses a pair of dice. The dice bubble is a traditional dice bubble which causes the enclosed dice to be randomly rolled when the bubble is pushed upon. The number resulting from a roll of the dice is used to determine the number of fishing points to be traversed by a player and for generating random numbers required by the rules of the game.
The fish cards have a uniform appearance on one side. The other side of each fish card designates a unique fish. That fish identifies a target fish for a player. When a player catches a target fish, the points assigned to that catch are enhanced.
The colors of the color cards are comprised of the colors assigned to the fishing holes. Each fishing hole color can be found as a matching color on a plurality of color cards. The primary purpose of the color cards is to set a point value when a fish is caught. Each color card has a plurality of bait designator, fish and point combinations listed thereon. Each color card also has a fish and point combination which is not associated with a bait designator. When a fish is caught, the game rules require a determination of whether the bait designator on a selected color card matches a selected bait designator on a player""s bait board. When such a match occurs the player is awarded the points associated with the color card bait designator which matches the selected bait board bait designator. If there is no such match after a fish catch, the player is assigned the points associated with the fish and point combination on the color card which are not associated with a bait designator.
During the playing of the game each player is assigned a bait board. Each bait board has a plurality of labeled grouped baits. One label applies to each group of baits. Each bait within a group of baits is associated with a bait designator. The bait designator on the bait board associates a selected bait on the bait board with fish and point combinations listed on the color cards. Each bait within within the grouped baits on the bait board is also associated with a bait selector. The bait selector is used by a player to select a bait on the player""s bait board. Preferably, the bait selector is comprised of a peg and a hole wherein the hole is associated with a specific bait on the bait board. A bait on a bait board is selected by placing the peg in a hole associated with the desired bait.
The playing cards are comprised of sequential fishing cards. Preferably, the playing cards are also comprised of specialty cards and snag cards. Preferably, the sequential fishing cards are comprised of cast cards, bite cards, hook cards, fight cards and caught cards. The rules of the game require that one of each type of sequential fishing card be played, in order, for a player to catch a fish.
The specialty cards are comprised of game warden cards, fishing license cards, bonus bait cards and bogus bait cards. The game warden cards are used to impair an opponent""s ability to accumulate points. The fishing license cards are used for neutralizing the game warden cards. The bonus bait cards are used to permit a player to select an additional bait on the bait board assigned to that player. The bogus bait cards are used to inhibit an opponent""s ability to select baits from within a bait group on the opponent""s assigned bait board. The snag cards are used to impair an opponent""s ability to catch fish.
In the preferred embodiment of this invention the fish associated with each bait designator, fish and point combination on the color cards of each color is selected from a group of fish having similar desirability (as determined by the typical fisherman) and preferred foods.
The game pieces are used to designate each player""s position on the gameboard.